OSAC Standards Bulletin

OSAC Registry Updates

As of February 4, 2025, the OSAC Registry contains 225 standards (152 published and 73 OSAC Proposed) representing over 20 forensic science disciplines. 

• No new standards have been added to the Registry at this time.

Registry Extensions

The following standards have been approved for a 3-year extension on the OSAC Registry:

• ANSI/ASB Best Practice Recommendation 007, Postmortem Impression Submission Strategy for Comprehensive Searches of Essential Automated Fingerprint Identification System Databases, 2018, 1st. Ed.
• ANSI/ASB Best Practice Recommendation 010, Forensic Anthropology in Disaster Victim Identification: Best Practice Recommendations for the Medicolegal Authority, 2018, 1st. Ed.

Visit the OSAC Registry webpage to view the current list of standards on the Registry!

Standards Open for Comment 

SDO Published Standards Under Consideration for the OSAC Registry

The OSAC Registry approval process for published standards is used to review existing SDO published standards for technical quality and placement on the Registry. 

• There are no SDO-published standards under consideration for the OSAC Registry at this time.

OSAC Proposed Standards Under Consideration for the OSAC Registry

The OSAC Registry approval process for OSAC Proposed Standards is used to review OSAC drafted standards for technical quality and placement on the Registry. The following draft OSAC Proposed Standards are being considered for submission to an SDO. The final draft provided to the SDO will be available on the OSAC Registry as an “OSAC Proposed Standard.”

OSAC welcomes comments on whether the following drafts are suitable for release to the SDO and suggestions for improvements in content and wording. To be considered, comments must be placed in the OSAC Comment Form and sent to comments [at] nist.gov (comments[at]nist[dot]gov) by 11:59 p.m. ET on March 3, 2025.

• OSAC 2025-S-0005, Standard Test Method for Distance Determination (Gunshot Residue Distance and Shot Pellet Pattern Distance).
• OSAC 2025-S-0012, Best Practice Recommendations for Publicly Sharing Short Tandem Repeat Data from Wildlife Panels.
• OSAC 2025-S-0013, Standard for a Quality Assurance Program in Forensic Anthropology.
• OSAC 2025-S-0014, Guidelines for a Quality Assurance Program in Forensic Anthropology.
• OSAC 2025-S-0015, Standard Practices for Quality Management Systems for Forensic Toxicology Laboratories and Breath Alcohol Programs.
• OSAC 2025-N-0018, Standard for Education of Healthcare Providers who Perform Medical-Forensic Examinations for Adults and Adolescent Patients of Non-Fatal Strangulation, Suffocation, and other forms of Asphyxia.

Standards Open for Comment at Standards Development Organizations (SDOs)

There are 16 forensic science standards currently open for public comment at the following SDOs:

ASB:

• Two in medicolegal death investigation with comment deadlines of February 10 and February 17, 2025.
• One in forensic document examination with a comment deadline of February 24, 2025.
• One in firearms and toolmarks and one in forensic toxicology with a comment deadline of March 10, 2025.

ASTM International:

• Five in ignitable liquids, explosives, and gunshot residue, one in interdisciplinary, one in seized drugs, and four in trace materials with a comment deadline of March 3, 2025.

SDO Updates 

New Published Standards

From ASB:

• ANSI/ASB Standard 017, Standard for Metrological Traceability in Forensic Toxicology. 2nd. Ed. 2025.
• ANSI/ASB Standard 056, Standard for Evaluation of Measurement Uncertainty in Forensic Toxicology, 1st. Ed. 2025. 

Visit ASB’s Published Documents webpage to view the standards. 

Work Proposals for New or Revised Standards

On January 31, 2025, a Project Initiation Notification System (PINS) was published on page 2 of the ANSI Standards Action. This will begin ASB’s  work on the following standard:

• BSR/ASB Standard 217-202x, Standard for the Ethical Treatment of Human Remains and Associated Data for Curation, Education, Research, and Training in Forensic Anthropology. This document establishes procedures for the ethical treatment and curation of contemporary human remains and associated data for the purposes of conducting forensic anthropological research and for the use of human remains and associated data in education and training. This standard also provides requirements for informed consent. This standard does not address non-contemporary human remains, which may be subject to federal and state antiquities laws, including the Archaeological Resources Protection Act (ARPA) and/or the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA). This standard does not discuss the use of human remains as evidence within the context of forensic casework (i.e., search, recovery, or laboratory analysis).

Withdrawals 

• Announced in the January 24, 2025, ANSI Standards Action, ANSI/ASTM E2548-2016, Standard Guide for Sampling Seized Drugs for Qualitative and Quantitative Analysis was withdrawn as an American National Standard (ANS) by ASTM.
  • Note: This standard is in the process of being reinstated at ASTM. 
• Announced in the January 31, 2025, ANSI Standards Action, BSR/ASTM WK92088-202x, New Practice for Validation and Verification of Analytical Methods for Forensic Science Service Providers Performing Forensic Chemical Analyses was withdrawn as a new project by ASTM.

The Importance of Updating Implementation Surveys Over Time

Our implementation efforts are propelled by the invaluable contributions of 226 forensic science service providers who have submitted surveys as of the date of this writing. Over 185 of these implementers have publicly shared their achievements, a testament to their crucial role in this process. Their names are proudly displayed on the OSAC Implementer page, which can be accessed here.

As this important collection of standards implementation data continues to grow with the addition of new FSSPs, we would also like to stress the importance of acquiring updated information from FSSPs who have previously contributed. As you are all aware, the forensic science standards landscape is quite dynamic. New standards are consistently added to the Registry, and existing standards are routinely replaced as new editions of those standards are published due to the cyclical review process and occasional off-cycle updates.

Three standards with their implementation numbers are presented below as an example of the importance of receiving updated information. All three standards, initially placed on the Registry several years ago, were recently replaced by new published versions. Each standard achieved robust implementation during the initial posting timeframe, but implementation has the appearance of falling off due to a lack of updates.

For reference, one of these standards (ANSI/ASTM E2917-19a) was the second most implemented standard, just behind ISO/IEC 17025:2017, prior to being supplanted by the 2024 version. Since the addition of the new version of these standards, approximately 20 new surveys have been received; however, there have been very few updates. If all the FSSPs that have previously reported implementation of the old versions of these standards update their surveys to reflect their implementation status for the new versions, the impact of the latest versions could be more accurately quantified. For instance, updated surveys could help us identify areas where the new standards are being implemented effectively and areas where further support or guidance may be needed.

These updates can be made at any time during the year through the survey link. However, our annual open enrollment event is a prime opportunity to send in your updates on a fixed cadence. Stay tuned for more information on the exact dates for the 2025 event.

Remember, we are here for you. If you have any questions, need any implementation-related assistance, or forgot your OSAC ID, please do not hesitate to reach out to us at forensics [at] nist.gov (forensics[at]nist[dot]gov). Your success is our priority.  

*If you have any questions or need more clarification about an OSAC Proposed Standard, please contact forensics [at] nist.gov (forensics[at]nist[dot]gov).

OSAC FSSB Meeting Public Feedback Session

Credit: Pixabay.com

The OSAC Forensic Science Standards Board (FSSB) will have a public feedback session available during its upcoming quarterly meeting on Tuesday, March 11. The purpose of this public session is to provide stakeholders with an opportunity to share feedback with the FSSB related to agenda items or matters within the FSSB’s authority.

The FSSB will consider all feedback from the public, and remarks can be made by the submitter or by the OSAC Program Office on behalf of the submitter.

If you wish to share feedback with the FSSB, please complete this form by Monday, March 3, 2025.

The schedules and agendas for upcoming FSSB meetings can be found on the FSSB Meetings webpage.

Facial & Iris Identification Subcommittee Research Needs Symposium

Mark your calendars! The Facial & Iris Identification Subcommittee is hosting a virtual Research Needs Symposium on February 27th!  Join Virtually HERE

NIST’s Forensic Science Program at AAFS!

NIST’s Forensic Science Program will be at the 2025 American Academy of Forensic Sciences (AAFS) Annual Conference in Baltimore, MD, February 17-25. 

Take a moment to visit Booth #312 in the Exhibit Hall and learn about what NIST's Forensic Science Research, Foundations, and Standards Programs (i.e., OSAC) have been working on. And, don’t forget to pick up your OSAC Member and/or Implementer ribbon(s)! 

Check out these NIST, OSAC and other standards-related presentations happening at the AAFS Conference! 

• March 1-5, 2025: Pittsburgh Conference on Analytical Chemistry and Applied Spectroscopy (PITTCON) | Boston, MA
• March 25-27: OSAC All-Hands Meeting: Chemistry: Trace Evidence SAC, Digital/Multimedia SAC, Medicine SAC, Physics/Pattern Interpretation SAC, Firearms & Toolmarks SC | St. Louis, MO 
• April 4-8, 2025: The American Society of Criminal Laboratory Directors (ASCLD) 52nd Annual Symposium | Denver, CO
• May 6-8: OSAC All-Hands Meeting: Biology/DNA SAC, Chemistry: Seized Drugs/Toxicology SAC, Scene Examination SAC, Physics/Pattern Interpretation SAC | St. Louis, MO
• May 13-16, 2025: Annual Conference of the International Veterinary Forensic Sciences Association (IVFSA) | Clearwater, FL
• June 3-6, 2025: Florida International University (FIU) Global Forensic Science Symposium | Miami, FL

OSAC Goes to the Golden State!

Credit: SWGDE

Between January 13 and 16, OSAC Program Office team members JP Jones, Allison Getz, and Vinny Desiderio had the opportunity to join over 100 Digital Evidence professionals at the Scientific Working Group on Digital Evidence (SWGDE) meeting in San Jose, California. During this time, the SWGDE membership was hard at work developing new standards, continuing work on a quality management system framework document for digital evidence, drafting position statements, brainstorming research needs, and moving documents through their standards development process. A great deal was accomplished during this short time, and the products from these efforts will soon be reflected in the OSAC world, bringing about exciting changes as their work product moves to the Registry approval process in the not-too-distant future.

Texas Forensic Science Commission Supports NIST Recommendations

In May 2024, forensic science research experts at NIST published an article, Inconclusive Decisions and Error Rates in Forensic Science, which offered a brief review of the various viewpoints and suggestions, followed by a solution to address the treatment of inconclusive decisions. 

Recently, the Texas Forensic Science Commission (TFSC) reviewed the NIST authors' recommendations and established a collaborative working group focused on understanding and implementing them in Texas labs.  Check out the NIST website to read more and hear from Lynn Garcia, OSAC Forensic Science Standards Board member and General Counsel for the TFSC, about the proactive measures TFSC took to put these recommendations into practice.

AAFS Checklists and Factsheets

As part of a cooperative agreement with NIST, the American Academy of Forensic Sciences (AAFS) is developing training, tools, and resources to enhance implementation efforts and broaden awareness of forensic science standards among communities of interest. 

• Standards factsheets provide a concise summary of a standard and facilitate a broader understanding of its purpose, why it is needed, and the benefits of adoption. These factsheets summarize the contents of standards on the OSAC Registry. They are not intended to provide an interpretation for any portion of a standard. Standards factsheets are available for 150+ standards on the OSAC Registry. 
• Standards checklists provide a tool for a forensic science service provider to evaluate the level of implementation and/or audit conformance to a standard. A checklist is a supplementary tool and should not be used independently - it must be used in conjunction with the standard. Copies of standards are available through the SDO. Each checklist is specific to a version of a standard and not all sections of a standard may be included in a checklist. Checklists are not intended to provide an interpretation for any portion of a standard. Checklists are available for 150+ standards on the OSAC Registry. 
• AAFS Connect offers free standard videos and webinars. Learn about the standards development process, standards development activities in various disciplines, and information about specific SDO published standards on the OSAC Registry. 

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Contact Us. If you have feedback, or questions, or want to learn more about how you can help strengthen forensic science through standards, contact us at forensics [at] nist.gov (forensics[at]nist[dot]gov).